


Not So Awkward

by hsilence



Series: Awkward [2]
Category: League of Legends RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2018-12-07 16:33:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11627478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hsilence/pseuds/hsilence
Summary: What Faker could remember clearly was that when he first met Peanut, he thought that his name suit him perfectly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is Faker’s POV of my Awkward fic. I didn’t give a heads up about this because I wanted it to be a surprise (ehem, lux). 
> 
> And PLEASE IF YOU WANT A MOMENT/SCENE FROM THE AWKWARD FIC YOU WANT TO SEE IN FAKER'S POV, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I'm not planning to write the whole fic in his POV, just bits and pieces so I'd love to take requests and just do about 5? chapters.

Truth be told, Faker had no idea when he first came across Peanut. He probably played against him in solo-que and ran into him backstage but it took him until the jungler’s debut game to match the name to the face. He made quite the ruckus in that match, getting successful ganks time after time and even taking a game from them. It was after that game that they ran into Najin members on their way home and he recognized the rookie jungler’s face. What he could remember clearly was that when he first met Peanut, he thought that his name suit him perfectly.

∞∞∞

He was in a foul mood. It was sometime around the middle of 2015 spring split and he had gotten into a fight with Bengi. It’s been peaceful between the two of them for quite the long time but the casual conversation they were having escalated before he knew it and he had stormed out when Bengi turned silent and steely like he does when he’s angry. He was walking aimlessly around the OGN studio and it only took him 5 minutes before he cooled down and felt idiotic for losing his head.

"I should go back and apologize,’ he thought, checking the time. He sighed and headed towards the bathroom before he started going back to the waiting room. He saw another figure standing in front of the sink but he paid no mind and was about to walk past to the urinals when he jumped at the unexpected slap that echoed through the bathroom.

“Han Wangho! This is just the start dammit, so suck it up and try harder! You got this!”

He stopped in his tracks and stared at the Najin’s substitute jungler through the mirror, feeling caught between a rock and a hard place when their eyes met. He wasn’t sure what the protocols were for these kind of situation. Does he say hi? Does he walk out? He flinched when Peanut spun around with obvious panic on his face. He opened his mouth a few times as if to say something but nothing came through and he looked so lost, Faker was starting to feel sorry that he ever decided to come to the bathroom. He was about to say something (he didn’t know what exactly) to break the awkward silence but the jungler straightened himself, bowed and scurried out without looking back before he could.

The silence in the bathroom was almost resounding and despite his confusion at the interaction, he felt a grin spread on his face at Peanut’s reaction and he had to cover his mouth to stop himself from being caught laughing alone like a lunatic in the bathroom.

Few minutes later, he entered the waiting room in a much better mood than when he had walked out. He saw Bengi still sitting in the same seat, watching the match that was taking place before theirs through the TV. When Bengi turned to look at him, he gave him a small, hesitant smile and it was returned with a warm grin that set the dimples into the jungler’s cheeks.

Feeling relieved, he sat in the chair next to Bengi’s. Before joining his jungler in watching the game, he silently noted that Peanut’s real name (Wangho, was it?) also suited him quite perfectly.

∞∞∞

2015 was one of the best years so far for him. With maRin and the bottom duo joining their line-up from SKT T1 S, they managed to climb out of their slump and take both the LCK and World Championship title for themselves once again. There was MSI but no need to bring up unnecessary memories. Feeling like he was on top of his game again, 2016 brought up another roster change with maRin and Easyhoon moving to LPL and Duke and Blank joining them. He wasn’t particularly close with any pro-gamers outside those who’s been in SKT but Bang and Wolf, being the social creatures they are, befriended the ROX Tiger’s somewhere along the line. During their wait backstage in the OGN studio, the two of them would often wonder out with Duke in tow and he could hear them talking through the door with the ROX Tiger members. It wasn’t long after 2016 spring split started that he was inevitably acquainted with the aforementioned team. He was dawdling on his phone when he heard Bang call out to him through the door.

“Hey, Sanghyeok-ah! Come over here for a minute.”

Curious as to what it was, he walked towards the door and peeked out and saw Bang, Wolf and the ROX tiger’s bottom duo and jungler spread across the floor.

“What is this?” he asked, closing the door behind him and walking closer.

“Arm wrestling. We all lost, you have to save our SKT pride,” Bang informed him, pulling him down to the floor.

“Wait, is Sanghyeok-yi the strongest out of you all?” Gorilla asked incredulously.

“All the big guys in SKT are the weakest,” Bang complained, shaking out his hand.

“Hey, it’s Sanghyeok-yi,” greeted Pray in his boisterous voice.

“Wait, wait, he has to go against Wangho first,” Bang interrupted before they could get into position and waved Peanut closer. He saw the jungler (he looked even smaller up close, how old was he?) hesitantly come up from behind Gorilla.

“Do I get anything if I win?” he asked to nobody in specific, holding out his arm.

“You get to vindicate the household SKT name,” Wolf answered, clapping him on the back. He glanced at the ROX jungler before grabbing his hand as Bang held their hand together and counted down, acting as the referee. He couldn’t quite remember how the rest of the arm wrestling match went a year afterwards but he knew he won against Peanut and thought to himself how small the hand in his was.

∞∞∞

They weren’t off to the smoothest start in 2016. kkOma started substituting Blank in for Bengi but he wasn’t performing like Faker knew he could. Things started picking back up after IEM and they were climbing their way up to the higher rankings in 2016 spring split. It was another day of grinding through solo-que when Bengi brought up something that he dreaded hearing from him. They were in the gaming house and all of them were engrossed in each of their solo-que games.

“Sanghyeok-ah.”

“Yeah?”

“…What would you do if I moved to LPL the next year?” Bengi asked tentatively.

“Are you thinking of moving to LPL?” Faker knew that Bengi has been considering moving out of LCK for a while but hearing it come directly from the jungler’s mouth had his heart lurching uncomfortably.

“Perhaps. Sungu is starting to settle in after IEM. You know he’s a great jungler. And there are plenty of talents in LCK.”

“…” He knew that Bengi was expecting an answer but he didn’t move his eyes from the screen. He didn’t know how to respond. It wasn’t like he could force him to stay. But there was also no way that he could send him off happily (he just wasn’t adult enough to do so, he knew). When he stayed silent, he saw from the corner of his eyes Bengi turning to look at him.

“I don’t want you to go,” he answered curtly, still refusing to look at him.

“…Ok.”

But Faker knew Bengi will leave anyways because despite how accommodating the long-time SKT jungler could be, he was as stubborn as he was sometimes.

 ∞∞∞

They won against the ROX Tigers in the finals of Spring 2016 LCK. It was the 5th LCK title he won but it still felt the same elation he did every time as his team lifted up the trophy with the roar of the crowd. He grinned at Bengi and felt his chest warm when he grinned back, reminding him once again why he loved winning alongside his jungler. He surveyed the crowd beneath him and his eyes swept past the ROX Tiger’s booth before he caught Smeb leaning down with his hand on Peanut’s shoulder in an obvious attempt at comforting the jungler, who had his face hidden behind his hand.

He didn’t know why but he felt a pang in his chest when he saw the small frame slumped over his keyboard. He took an unconscious step  towards the ROX booth before he realized he was about to walk off the stage in midst of the ending ceremony. He teared his eyes away and swallowed, feeling uncomfortable at the sudden onrush of unwarranted feelings.

∞∞∞

The 2016 Worlds wasn’t as smooth-sailing as 2015. They were still dominant and they made it through the group stage as easy they did before and it was just determined that they will be facing off the ROX Tigers in the semifinals. kkOma wanted them to have a team dinner before they head back to their hotel and he was on his way towards the SKT waiting room from the bathroom when he saw Peanut walking from the opposite direction. He’s seen the jungler countless times by now, behind OGN studio and also in Worlds, but they never conversed when it was only the two of them. When they neared, the jungler bowed and he was about to as well when the other tripped and he grabbed his arms out of instinct before he hit the floor.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked, noting to himself that the arms felt too thin in his hands.

“Uh, yeah, yes, I’m ok. Sorry about that…” came the soft reply and he couldn’t help but notice close-up that the jungler’s eyelashes were incredibly long and soft looking. He quickly straighned up and they walked together in awkward silence before Peanut hastily said his farewell and entered a room that he assumed was ROX Tiger’s waiting room. Looking at the retreating back, he had a flashback to the bathroom incident months ago and he coughed to hide his laughter and walked the rest of the way back alone.

SKT once again took the title as world champions a week later and he didn’t remember seeing Peanut for rest of the year.

∞∞∞ 

He had thought of moving to LPL with Bengi. He was always fighting off offers from the LPL teams every off-season and it would be a piece of cake to just take up the best offer. But he knew Bengi would never forgive him if he did and he didn’t have it in him to leave SKT, let alone LCK. They had a last dinner together as a team and Wolf cried no matter how much he denied it. Although he laughed, when the dinner ended and it was just the two of them, he couldn’t say anything. Bengi’s parents were waiting with his luggage in their car and they were standing in front of the gaming house with the rest of their teammates already dispersed.

“Take care of yourself,” Bengi said with a small smile. “Don’t sulk too much.”

He wanted to tell him to stay one last time but his pride didn’t let him and he stood there, his eyes fixed on to the ground. He felt his gaze on him and seconds passed by before the jungler pat his shoulder gently. He heard the indistinct footsteps getting softer and he couldn’t even look at the Bengi’s back as he walked away.

∞∞∞

It was a couple days after Bengi left Korea that he heard from kkOma about Peanut coming to the gaming house soon. The contract was signed before All Stars 2016 but he didn’t mull over the new addition, distracted as he was with Bengi leaving. But when he read kkOma’s message in their group chat, he only then registered that he’ll probably be playing the game a lot differently than he did with the previous SKT jungler. He put his phone away, hearing his father call him out for dinner and he didn’t think about the new SKT roster for the rest of his stay with his family.

And it was just a few weeks after that he was standing in front of the SKT gaming house, being greeted by a drunk and friendly Peanut who gave him the biggest smile and took his hand like it was the most natural thing in the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m still alive, and I’m so sorry I’ve been absent for so long. I just finished taking the language proficiency test T^T 
> 
> I took into account the requests some of you made and planned the next 3 chapters~ I’ll try to include all of them. I’m so glad you guys are enjoying this, thank you so much!!!

The hand that grabbed him felt as small and fragile as the arm he felt some weeks ago. Peanut was looking at him with a flushed face and started tugging him in before he could work out the situation.

“Sanghyeokyi-hyung is here!” Wangho shouted over his shoulder and linked his arm around his, sticking close to his side. “Hyung~, we were all waiting for you,” he said and Sanghyeok caught a whiff of alcohol from the new jungler. He was dragged into the living room where his rowdy teammates were sitting scattered across the floor, all of them either completely or half-way inebriated. Before he could even take off his bag, he was forced down in between Wangho and Haneul, a drink being shoved into his hand by Junsik.

“Hey! Sanghyeok-ah, drink up, drink up!” Junsik cried out, unaware of how loud he’s being and refilling everybody’s drinks. Sanghyeok knew Junsik will pass out in matter of minutes now by the look that Jaewan was giving him.

“What’s going on?” he asked, trying to slide his bag off somehow with his right arm still occupied by Wangho. He managed untangle their arms and set his bag down.

“Bonding, it’s team bonding,” answered Jaewan, lifting his drink, looking the soberest out of the lot, “Profit-hyung and Sungu already passed out. Wangho’s pretty far gone too.”

“Sanghyeok-ah~, you’re lucky man, Wangho is one loyal as fuck _hubae_ *,” Junsik slurred out, vaguely pointing at Wangho who was back to leaning on him for support. The said jungler turned at his name, slapping his hand on his knee as if he just remembered something.

“Ah, hyung! That’s right, I watched eeeevery single of your games, you know,” he said, taking his hand again, which he assumed was the norm for him.

"Every single one?” he asked, because really, that was quite a lot of games.

"Every single one! Even your streams,” he exclaimed earnestly, “I remember your first game and all, I watched some of it live.”

And his new jungler proceeded to slur out for the next 30 minutes the details of his games that even he couldn’t remember, complimenting him and complaining redundantly how he wasn’t there for any of it (he could only understand about half of what he said). He had to admit, he was feeling flattered, if not a bit surprised. At some point, the rambling slowed down and after a big yawn, the talking stopped and Sanghyeok watched as Wangho started drifting off to sleep, his head resting on the couch behind them. Too engaged in trying to understand the drunken mumblings, Sanghyeok hadn’t noticed that all of them were passed out with the exception of Jaewan.

“The kid’s obsessed with you,” the supporter remarked, looking on as Sanghyeok carefully removed Wangho’s hand that was clutching his jacket. He groaned as he stretched out his stiff back and stood up, looking at the mess they made in the living room and glancing at Jaewan hopefully.  

“Rock, paper, scissor and whoever loses cleans up,” suggested Jaewan, leaning back and holding his hand out.

“I wasn’t even here for the most of it,” he complained but held his hand out anyways.

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

“WHOO!”

“Damn it,” he spat out, not caring that Junsik was startled awake by Jaewan’s loud hoot.

“What time is it,” Junsik asked, yawning.

“Time for sleep so Sanghyeok can clean up,” Jaewan said cheerfully, pulling his ADC up and pushing him into his room before making his way towards his own. “Thanks man. I took care of Junsik so I’ll leave the rest to you,” he snickered before closing the door and Sanghyeok cursed under his breath. He threw everything in the trash and put the cups they used into the sink. He somehow dragged Seunghoon and Haneul to their respective rooms (dragged, not carried, because both of them were too damn tall). He mentally noted to himself that he should really exercise when he felt short of breath. He glanced at the small figure passed out at the couch and hesitated, contemplating whether he can actually lift the guy without dropping him. He crouched down and carefully wound his arms around under his knees and back. Steadying himself, he experimentally pushed himself off the floor and was caught off guard by how easy it was. He was as light as he looked. He walked towards Sungu’s room and nudged the door open with his shoulder.

‘Ah, are you serious,’ he swore when he saw Sungu passed out on the lower bunk. There was no way he was even attempting to lift Wangho up into the upper bunk. He didn’t want to be responsible for any concussions. He turned around and walked back to the living room and pushed his bag off of the couch with his feet. He started lowering Wangho down onto the couch and cautiously set his head down. He sighed out as he stood back up, letting out a breath of relief. He surveyed the room, satisfied with his work and picked up his bag.

He froze in place when he heard a shuffling from the couch and he looked over his shoulder to see the jungler curl into himself into a fetal position and shiver. He turned 360 degrees in his spot, unsure where the spare blankets were. He looked at the huddled jungler who had a small frown on his forehead and after a second of consideration, shrugged his jacket off. He gingerly laid it across the sleeping figure, but stopped breathing all together when he shifted and let out a groan. He only turned in place and clutched the jacket, pulling it tighter around himself. Sanghyeok let out a breath of relief and observed as Wangho pulled the jacket higher, covering the lower half of his face and his forehead smoothing out.

‘This is a pretty good blackmail material right?’ he asked himself before fishing for his phone in his pocket. He made sure the flash was off, snapped a photo of his new jungler and made his way back to his room when he was satisfied with the shot.

 

∞∞∞

 

He woke up the next morning without an alarm and groggily reached for his phone. It was past noon and he sat his feet down on the floor, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Haneul was still sleeping soundly and he ambled into the living room, flinching at the afternoon sun spilling in. He saw Wangho still sleeping as well and crept his way towards the window, closing the curtains. He grabbed a towel from Junsik’s room because he couldn’t bother walking all the way back to his room for it and started towards the bathroom. He heard a rustle from couch and turned around to find Wangho awake and standing with his jacket in his hand, looking confused.

“You’re the first one to wake up. Everybody’s still sleeping,” he offered to which Wangho responded by snapping his head up, his cheeks coloring pink ever so slightly.

“Ah, th-thank you. I…uh, um…,” he stuttered out, looking flustered, very unlike his gregarious self from last night.

“There’re probably some pills for your hangover in the kitchen.” He remembered that Junsik and Jaewan would always go crawling for those every time they drank excessively. “Just put that back in my room when you’re done with it. I couldn’t find the spare blankets and I didn’t want to go through your things so…,” he trailed off as the jungler’s expression turned even more perplexed.

“Huh? Wait, this is yours?”

“Yes? I came in the middle of the night and you guys were all pretty inebriated. Sungu took the lower bunk and I don’t think I could’ve gotten you up their so I just put you on the couch,” he explained, feeling hesitant at the sudden outburst.

“It was you who came in middle of the night?”

‘This guy doesn’t remember anything, does he,’ he thought, feeling amused, watching him obviously trying to puzzle out what had happened.  

“Yeah, well, I’m going to go shower…Good luck sobering up before the team dinner,” he said as he walked towards the bathroom. But the chance was just too good to pass up and he peeked behind the door before he closed it. “Oh, and I didn’t know you were such a big fan of mine. Should’ve just asked and I would have been happy to give you a sign.”

He smirked when he saw the jungler’s face pale and apparent panic settle on his face. He chuckled, closing the door fully behind him before getting into the shower. He finished quickly, feeling his stomach growl from not eating anything for 12 hours straight. He put back his clothes on, rubbing his hair with a towel, shaking off the water. He sauntered out the bathroom and what he saw made his insides do a funny little flip. Wangho was lying on the couch again, clutching his SKT jacket close to his chest, his face buried in it.

‘Did he fall asleep again?’

He cautiously walked towards the still figure with his hand still on the bathroom door handle. He jumped when the door closed behind him with a loud click and when he turned back, Wangho was back on his feet with the jacket in his hands. A bit let down for a reason he couldn’t place, he nodded towards the bathroom.

“Hey, the shower’s yours now.”

“Y-yeah, thanks,” came the stuttered reply. He looked at his jacket in the small hands, wondering when he’ll get it back, and walked back to his room.

Later in the day, he was looking through his pictures on his phone and smiled when he saw the photo he took of his new jungler yesterday night. After a second thought, he decided that he’d rather keep the photo to himself than use it for extortion. He was too nice to do it anyways. 

 

∞∞∞

 

He huffed and watched his breath condense in the cold air. It was the night before the end of their break and the one week that went by in blink of the eye was spent acquainting or re-acquainting with each other. He had walked out absent-mindedly, the quietness of the gaming house feeling a bit too stifling. He only grabbed his wallet and his phone and he’s been walking to wherever his feet was taking him. After 10 minutes of wandering around, he found himself in front of a little café that he frequented alone whenever he had the time and wished he brought his book along.

‘Ah, whatever, it’s too cold, I’ll go in just to warm up for a bit’ he thought, his ears and nose starting to feel numb with the biting cold. The familiar chime of the bell greeted him as he pushed open the door. The barista who was already familiar with him gave him a smile before putting in his order right away. He thanked him quietly and made his way towards the corner seat he always sat in but stopped in his tracks when he saw the recognizable figure sitting in his spot. He felt a grin pull at his lips at the sight and started towards him. The jungler was distracted with something or another that he didn’t even sense him sitting down opposite him. He watched the glazed over eyes and come back to focus when he nudged the thin legs with his feet under the table. Wangho lurched up hard enough that his drink spilled over.

“Distracted much?” he watched as the jungler’s ears turned the pretty pink shade and hurriedly wiping the table with a napkin.

“Hyung~,” he complained, with the trademark whine in his voice.   

“I didn’t know you come here.”

“I don’t. I just found the place today.”

“Hmm…what were you thinking about?”

“Nothing much…Just tomorrow.”

“Are you nervous?” he asked, genuinely curious as Wangho avoided his eyes and pointedly turned his head away. He let out a laugh at his reaction; he’s come to know in the past week that Wangho had quite the pride in him, it wouldn’t be like him to admit that he was indeed nervous. Without thinking, he ruffled his hair and the dyed hair was softer than he expected. Wangho quickly dodged away.

“Don’t be. Anybody who joins SKT are people who are capable of winning. And you’re good, aren’t you?” he recited what Seungung told Sungu before his first match with SKT.

“Of course I am,” came the tart reply.

“Then let’s see if you’re better than Nooblank,” he teased, flicking the jungler’s forehead, knowing that he was never the one to back down from a challenge, no matter how small of a challenge. “Come on, it’s just going to get colder, let’s get back to the gaming house,” he said, watching amusedly when Wangho pulled a face. They headed out without a word and he felt his breath catch in his throat for a moment at the rush of cold air. He pulled his coat tighter around his body, trying to retain as much body heat as possible. The streets were virtually empty and the only sounds they could hear were distant traffic noises. Sanghyeok couldn’t help but notice that every time they walked beneath the dimply lit street lights, Wangho seemingly glowed, his pale skin and hair standing out more than ever in the dark. His eyes were drawn to his eyelashes again.

‘They’re so long,’ he remembered, thinking back to 2016 Worlds when the jungler had tripped on to him. He knew, simply from hearing his teammates talk and social media, that the said jungler was never left out amongst female fan’s list of attractive pro-league player. It was rather clear to him why that was so; even after his adolescent-looking face started fading away after 6th season, he still had that small face with a perfect bland of sharp and soft angles that probably called in all kinds of maternal and paternal extincts.   

He didn’t realize he was staring so hard until Wangho suddenly snapped his head towards him with a sharp “What is it?”. He coughed to hide his embarrassment and scratched his head, finally taking his eyes off the jungler.

“Nothing,” he replied, hoping he didn’t pry any further. He relaxed when Wangho simply gave him a doubtful look and they walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

 

∞∞∞

 

The spring split started and their new roster made a decent debut. Although the weather itself didn’t seem like it wanted to thaw out, the snow was gone. When it wasn’t a match day, the daily grind of scrims and practices continued.

It was one of those uneventful days that he heard his teammates start discussing something to do other than playing solo-que. They were going nowhere with it (because admittedly, none of them did much outside gaming) until Seunghoon came up with the idea to watch a horror film. They somehow came to consensus to watch _Insidious_ , probably ignoring Haneul and Wangho’s objections and made their way out of the practice room.

“If Wangho and I wake up screaming, it’s all on you hyungs,” Haneul sighed, grabbing onto his arm as they piled out.

“Just stick with Junsik,” Sanghyeok offered, a mumbled agreement coming from Jaewan and Sungu. The ADC was notorious amongst the older SKT members for being ridiculously good with anything horror-related. Haneul continued to complain all the way back to their apartment and by the time they arrived, Seunghoon and Sungu had already set up the computer and the TV.

“Where’s Profit-hyung?” he asked, not seeing the tall substitute top-laner, setting down the snacks on the coffee table.

“The guy already went to sleep, such a bore.”

Not really surprised, he entered his room, and searched for a change of clothes. It took him a minute finding a shirt that hasn’t been worn, mostly because they were all the same white shirts. When he walked out, everybody was already settled in, Seunghoon urging him to hurry up. He squeezed himself in between Wangho and the armrest of the couch, pulling his legs up.

He was never good with horror and gore like Junsik and he’d never watch or play anything horror-themed out of his own volition. But he was definitely better off than Haneul and Wangho who were flinching at every sudden movement. Haneul looked just about ready to rip Jaewan’s shirt, seeing how tightly he gripped onto it. Distracted by the pair on the floor, he wasn’t aware of the upcoming jump-scare scene.

 “HOLY MOTHER OF-,” he jumped at the sudden high-pitched curses that were bawled right into his left ear. He snapped his head back to the TV but the scene was already passed and he felt more than saw Wangho burying his face into his arm, clutching desperately at his shirt. He distantly heard Junsik guffawing, telling Wangho that it was okay to open his eyes again but he was more than preoccupied by the way the jungler carefully peered at the screen over his arm before breathing out. He was pulling at his shirt hard enough that it rode up slightly. He cleared his throat hoping that Wangho got the hint but the jungler didn’t seem to be aware, still staring wide-eyed at the screen. He resigned to the position and turned his attention back to the TV. He could still feel the rigid body leaning onto him and the grip on his shirt didn’t loosen.

‘Is he that scared?’ he pondered, glancing back. He felt the corners of his lips twitch when the jungler flinched at the smallest sound effect. And like last time, his hand reached towards the dyed hair absent-mindedly. It put his arm at the most uncomfortable angle and he felt Wangho start very slightly at the sudden touch. Feeling self-conscious, he avoided Wangho’s surprised stare and removed his hand. But he felt the body next to him relax and settle in more comfortably, still holding onto his sleeves. And for some untold reason, he felt warm glow of pride behind the sense of relief.

An hour later, he sighed out in relief when the ending credit showed. Horror movies were definitely not his thing. Junsik yawned, looking more bored than anything and Haneul looked just on the border of crying.

“Watching this was a stupid idea, Seunghoon,” Wangho whined, sounding and looking worn out.

“Come on, it wasn’t too bad.”

“Yeah, typical horror movie, just bunch of jump scares,” Junsik said, standing up and stretching his back.

“I don’t think I can sleep tonight,” uttered Haneul feebly, finally letting go off Jaewan’s thoroughly abused shirt. Sungu snorted at Haneul’s comment before yawning.

“It’s 3 am, I’m heading to sleep.”

Everyone got up one by one and he ignored the distant disappointment when Wangho pulled away.

“Hyung, aren’t you going to sleep?”

“Huh? Yeah, I am.”

“Alright…goodnight,” Wangho stalked off without looking back and Sanghyeok’s side suddenly felt too cold when the small figure disappeared to his room. He shook his head, attempting to clear his head and treaded after Haneul to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *=hubae basically refers to someone younger than you in the same career/academic path (the opposite of sunbae).


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE BOYS DID IT, THEY ARE IN THE FINALS, WOOHOO~ And although I don’t ship blank x peanut, their celebration after the last match was JUST TOO MUCH. Ahhh, I just love the jungle + mid history of SKT, no K-drama could have written a better love story :’) 
> 
> Big appreciation to both Misfits and RNG though, even with SKT far from their best form, I honestly think they played great games and pushed SKT to be more prepared for the Finals. I really really really want SKT to win again T^T Although, Samsung's a great team with amazing players so it won't be any shame to lose to them either. 
> 
> Anyways, TO THE FINALS MY FRIENDS

Sanghyeok was bad at keeping contact with people over the phone. He was notorious for ignoring chat messages and rarely initiated a conversation on any type of messenger platform. The habit seems to have stuck even with Seongung; despite looking at his contact profile on Kakao frequently, the messages he sent was few and far between. Most of them were just photos he arbitrarily took of his teammates.

'It’s been a while,’ he thought, scrolling through their chat. Seongung had left before 2017 and it was well into March. The four-day break that was given to everyone, for once, was spent as an actual break rather than cramming in more scrim sessions. Half of them were away to their respective homes and as far as he knew, only he and Wangho was in the gaming house today. He tapped thoughtfully at his phone. He felt almost obliged to give Seongung a call but what would they talk about?

He huffed out his frustration and set his phone down harder than necessary. The sound echoed through the bare room and he leaned back on his chair. Wanting to get rid of the bitter feeling, he curled his legs up and grabbed a book that was strewn on his desk. It was starting to collect dust because he had to put his readings on hiatus the last couple of weeks. He opened the book to the page he had dog-eared and started reading.

He didn’t know how much time had passed. He only looked up from his book when it was getting too dark to read without the light on. He turned towards the window; the sun was already set. He peeked out his room and the apartment was eerily quiet. ‘Did Wangho go out?’ he wondered, getting up and grabbing a towel. It was starting to get onto his conscience how long it’s been since he showered. It was winter and living a life filled with only males frankly had every one of them not paying much attention to their hygiene.

He walked or more felt his way towards the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the lights in the living room. Dumping his clothes into the laundry basket, he walked into the shower and doused himself in hot water. He vaguely remembered that he didn’t bring any change of clothes but his muscles felt like it was melting underneath the hot water and he couldn’t care less at the moment. He only began to dry himself up when the bathroom was getting too stuffy, carelessly shaking off excess water from his hair. He wrapped the towel around his hip, hoping that nobody was back yet. He unlocked the bathroom door and pulled but there was something extra that got pulled in that he didn’t expect. He let go off the handle in surprise when it opened more easily than it should and he barely recognized the blonde hair before he was knocked backwards. He somehow managed to keep his head from hitting the floor and groaned when his tailbone smashed onto the tile floor.

‘That’s going to bruise,’ he thought, pushing himself onto his elbows. It took a moment for him to take in the position that they were in. Wangho was straddling his leg, having caught himself on his knees and hands.  Wangho was close enough that Sanghyeok could feel his breath on his chest and it felt especially warm with the cold air of the apartment rushing in through the opened bathroom door. The towel wrapped around his lower half suddenly felt too lacking and he didn’t even want to register the fact that Wangho was barely covered as well. He couldn’t stop his eyes straying down from the tufts of blonde hair that was almost blocking his view. The uneven bones of his spine stuck out against the pale skin and the curve of his lower back looked way too enticing for a skinny 20-year-old boy.

He was only brought back to the present when a cold water droplet from his wet hair dripped down and snapped him to focus.

“What’s up with you and falling on flat surfaces,” he said, finally looking at Wangho’s face. It was starting to flush and once again, ‘there it is, his eyelashes’. It looked as pale and long as he remembered them to be and he saw his eyes looking panicked underneath them. He felt his heart do a strange little flutter when Wangho looked up at him momentarily through his eyelashes. The jungler murmured an unintelligible response before hurrying up, standing with his head down. He followed suit, peering at his face when he still didn’t lift his head. The jungler didn’t make any motions to move and looking back one more time, he walked out in silence, the sound of the lock resounding in the silence.

When the door closed behind him, he stopped abruptly, feeling his heart racing miles per second. He put his hand over his chest stupefied by his own reactions. He slowly walked back to his room, wondering what the hell that was.

 

§§§

 

After calming himself down, he managed to put the happenings at the back of his mind. Or at least that’s what he thought. When he could barely keep his eyes open, he had put his book down and laid down to sleep. The moment his head hit the pillow, he felt more wide awake than ever and he spent most of the night blinking up at the ceiling. The scene replayed over and over in his head and he tried distracting himself but only managed to fall sleep when the sun began rising over the horizon. When he woke up, it was past noon and the gaming house was full of life and noise again. He could hear Seunghoon’s loud voice through the walls and yawned, dragging himself out of the bed and into the living room.

He was greeted with Seunghoon’s look of disbelief as he blindly searched for water. “Your bed hair is incredible.”

“Mmm,” he replied, not awake enough to make a proper retort. He perched himself onto the kitchen chair, slowly rubbing sleep from his eyes as he listened to Sungu excitedly recall his break to Junsik and Profit. He looked around the apartment and when he couldn’t find the small statured blonde, he nudged Junsik who was sitting in front of him.

“Where’s Wangho?”

“He was just here,” Junsik answered. “Why?”

“Nothing,” he shrugged.

“Did something happen between you two?”

“Why do you ask?” Sanghyeok asked, hiding his surprise at the ADC’s acute question.

“He practically ran out the moment he saw you.”

When he refused to answer, he heard a chuckle escape from his teammate.

“Alright, you kids do you,” Junsik said with a knowing smile that made him shift uncomfortably in his chair with a cough.

“Sanghyeokyi-hyung!” Sungu called out from the other side of the living room and he stood up gladly to escape Junsik’s inquisitive and amused expression. When he reached Sungu, the jungler thrusted his phone to his chest.

“It’s Seongungyi-hyung,” Sungu informed him, motioning for him to take the phone.

“And?” he asked, rather nonplussed.

“He wants to talk to you?” Sungu replied with a question, looking as if he’s asked something obvious. Sanghyeok carefully took the phone and Sungu skipped towards where Seunghoon and Junsik was. He stared at the phone in his hand before he hesitantly spoke into it.

“Hang on.” He hurriedly put on his shoes and walked out, impatiently waiting for the elevator. He tapped his foot and when the elevator reached the first floor, he walked out the apartment. He took a deep breath before putting the phone back against his ear and cleared his throat.

“Hello?”

“What took you so long?” the soft, relaxed voice came through grainy on the phone but it nonetheless made the invisible knot inside him loosen a bit and he felt a smile pull at his lips.

“Had to find somewhere quiet. How are you doing?

“It’s a lot to get used to. The food, the language, everything really. How about you? Your spring season is going pretty well, isn’t it?”

“Yea, I’ve been doing good. SKT’s doing fine as well, we just dropped one game so far,” replied Sanghyeok.

“To Gyeonghwanyi-hyung, right? He played like a beast against Huni in that game. How’s coach doing? Still not bald yet?” the previous jungler asked, his voice hinting a smile.

“Coach is losing hair but…that was inevitable with how much he works,” he laughed at Seongung’s mention of the on-going SKT joke with kKoma’s ever thinning hair. “How about you, hyung, how’s LPL treating you?”

There was a brief pause before Bengi’s voice came through again and Sanghyeok immediately regretted the question. There was a reason the jungler refused to talk much about himself now and he knew he was having more than just a rough-patch finding his place in his new team.

“…It’s…not as easy as it was in SKT…Not that it was _that_ easy over there either, haha!” he let out an awkward laugh and Sanghyeok could just imagine him pushing his glasses up his nose bridge as he did out of habit when he was feeling nervous. 

“Ah...,” and him being socially awkward as he is, didn’t know what to say and silently rebuked himself for the insensitive question.

“It’s really not that bad. I’ll get used to everything sooner or later,” Seongung continued, trying to defuse the awkward atmosphere.

“You should just come back to LCK. Coach would take you back in a heartbeat,” he replied, feeling a wave of nostalgia. When all he heard was silence from the other line, he muttered out, “And we miss you, so…”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” the jungler replied, his tone adamant as ever, “Nothing got resolved between us, whatever it is.”

“Then when are you coming back, hyung,” he spat out, feeling the same unreasonable anger he felt whenever he argued with Seongung. “You’re spouting the same shit as Junsik, it’s not fair how you left-.”

“Hey, hey, calm the hell down,” Seongung replied, his own voice starting to sound tight with irritation.

“I just…want to see you,” Sanghyeok finished, deflating and feeling another bout of regret wash over him.  

“…I know…I miss it there too,” the elder said, his voice noticeably softer. “But all cards on the table, I won’t be able to visit during the season anyways. And it’ll be good for you to get some thinking in. I’ll be back sometime in the winter though.”

Sanghyeok nodded silently and hummed his acknowledgement when he realized Seongung couldn’t see him.

“Alright, well, I better get back. Tell everyone I miss them.”

“I will,” he answered and the line dropped soon after.

As he got in the elevator, he skimmed his fingers over the phone, thinking to himself what Seongung thought could possibly change over the next couple months.  

 

§§§

 

Something started bothering him ever since the call and surprisingly, it wasn’t anything to do with the old jungler. He noticed, despite being known as the densest person in his team, that Wangho was acting differently around him. Whenever he walked into a room where Wangho happened to be in, the 20-year-old immediately became subdued. He also noticed how, within few minutes of them being in the same room, Wangho would one way or another find an excuse to leave.  

When this went on for weeks, he started eyeing Wangho whenever he was around, wondering whether he has said or done something to the jungler.  And it was only a matter of time he started to get inexplicably annoyed. It was a Saturday night when he finally decided that it was enough. Wangho got up like he always did the past few weeks when he entered the living room and he was about to stop the jungler when he felt a sharp tug at his arm. He turned around sharply and it was Junsik forcefully yanking him down.

“What is it?” he asked, annoyed as the jungler already made his way back to his own room and he heard the door click shut.

“You are one thick-headed ass,” Junsik informed him, shaking his head.

“What?”

Instead of giving an explanation, the ADC just clicked his tongue and Sanghyeok huffed out in frustration. As confused as he was, he refrained himself from confronting Wangho again, having gotten the hint that doing so wasn’t a good idea. Thankfully, the behavior only seems to be outside the gaming house. Few days later, they had just returned to the gaming house for feedbacks after a win. kKoma had given them a rare free evening to be spent without streaming or playing Solo-que. But as per usual, he stayed behind in the gaming house, turned on his Solo-que account and began grinding through matches. He wasn’t even aware who was left in the gaming house until his coach shouted out a farewell and he turned around only to see that it was just him and Wangho left behind. He eyed the jungler for the first hour, wondering if he’s going to leave once he realizes that it was only the two of them, but relaxed when it seemed like that the jungler had no intention of doing so.

He didn’t know how many hours the two of them sat there, both aware of each other presence but not actively acknowledging it. His back started stiff and he gave a big yawn, his eyes watering a bit. When he closed league client, it was already past 3am.

"Wangho-ya,” he called, ready to go back to the apartment and get some shut-eye.  When he didn’t hear a reply, he whirled around on his chair only to find the jungler nodding off with his knees pulled up to his chest. He looked too small and tired in that position, he felt a rush of maternalistic instincts. Nonetheless, he grabbed his jacket and gently shook Wangho’s shoulders.

"Wangho-ya, it’s 3:30am. Let’s go back to the gaming house, you shouldn’t fall asleep here.”

Two eyes still filmy with sleep opened in such a way that Sanghyeok inadvertently likened him to a kitten. He coughed, ignoring the image it created. When the jungler didn’t respond, he leaned down to get a look at his face and was taken aback to say the least when he saw the tears.

“H-hey, what is it, what’s wrong?” Wangho quickly turned away from him and buried his face into the crook of his elbow. It just made him grip the thin shoulders more tightly.

“It’s nothing, I’m just tired.”

“It’s not nothing. Did something happen?” he retorted, feeling a flare of anger at the needless denial.

“Hyung…do you like Bengi-hyung better than me?”

“Huh?” He frowned at the seemingly nonsensical question. Then a sense of inexplicable guilt stabbed at him, making him take a step back.

“Do you think he’s better than me…”

“…Where is this coming from?” he asked, not really wanting to hear an answer. He straightened up from his position and winced when Wangho immediately let out a sharp sigh.

“Never mind, forget I asked anything. Let’s go back,” Wangho let out before turning his back towards him and sauntered towards the door, his shoulders visibly tensed. Sanghyeok watched the small back walking away from him, having a sudden flashback to when he won the LCK finals against ROX and had caught a glimpse of distraught Wangho. He felt the same urge to grab hold of him and comfort him anyway he can. But he couldn’t quite move, a jerking sensation berating him that he had no right to do so. So he stayed rooted on the spot feelings of unexplained guilt, longing and possessiveness gnawing at him.

 

§§§

 

Sanghyeok didn’t bring up what happened and nor did Wangho. And just like that, it was swept under the rug. He could pretend all he wanted, but the jungler was on his mind almost 24/7 ever since then. Part of the reason was him trying to figure out the bizarre mix of feelings he had. Every time he looked at Wangho, he felt as if had done something worthy of a guilty conscience and he couldn’t shake off the feeling that it had to something to do with Bengi. And the fact that he felt as if nothing else mattered when Wangho smiled didn’t really help. He assigned that particular feeling to being relieved that he was smiling again after he saw him tear up. But it didn’t explain anything else: the weird, belly-warming feeling he got when Wangho looked towards him first when they won a game handedly, something as simple as Wangho choosing to sit next to him during team dinners, and him suddenly being just so aware of the physical proximity between the two of them that was so casual before.

In midst of his confusion, days went by and the longed for break was given to them by kkOma. The first morning, he woke up uncharacteristically early with the sunlight hitting his eyes in less than a friendly way.

‘Told Haneul to close to goddamn curtains,’ he groaned inwardly as he got up, rubbing sleep away from his eyes. He untangled himself from the sheets and stumbled towards the bathrooms, requiring a proper wake-up. He sighed out in relief when he walked back out, the sunlight that was pouring into the living room feeling far more pleasant than it had before. It was an arbitrary decision when he grabbed his book and headed out towards his frequented café. The sun was warm and the sky was immaculately blue, he was almost disappointed that he arrived.

The moment he walked in, he caught a mass of dyed hair at the far corner seat by the window. ‘So that’s where he’s been,’ he thought, stamping down the unneeded delight and  stopping himself in time from walking over before placing an order. He quickly bought his usual and stepped towards his jungler. The 20-year old didn’t seem to have noticed his presence and when he walked closer, he saw that his eyes were closed. He carefully sat his drink on the table but didn’t make any moves to sit down.

Wangho was saturated with sunlight, his blonde hair almost blinding and his already pale skin looking even paler. He looked more peaceful than he’s seen him recently. He had one of his arms stretched out, his fingers dangling from the edge. He poked at the thin arm with his book and when he didn't stir, held the bony fingers and gently tugged. Wangho's eyes fluttered open and he straightened his back and waited patiently for him to recognize him. He had to refrain from smiling when the younger boy’s eyes widened, still looking bleary.

“Hyung? You were already up?” Wangho asked, his voice muted from his nap.

“Yeah,” he replied, finally taking his eyes off of him and settling down. “I didn’t know you still come here.”

“It’s a nice place.”

“For sleeping?” he asked, not being able to hide his smile this time when Wangho immediately looked petulant.

“I didn’t mean to! I just woke up early, and the sun was so nice.”

Sanghyeok absentmindedly nodded in agreement, his neck and arm already feeling warm as he leaned his back against the window. He grinned when Wangho rubbed at the coffee table where the sun reached it and asked lightheartedly, “What are you a cat?”

“Whatever.”

“Go back to sleep, I’ll just keep quiet and read,” he said, opening up his book to where he had thrown a receipt as a make-do bookmarker. He vaguely saw Wangho reposition himself with a hum, burying his head into his crossed arms. He settled himself as comfortably as he could on the wooden chair and started reading. Or at least tried to. His eyes kept drifting towards the still figure opposite him and he was starting get annoyed that 20 minutes passed and he was still on the same page. But he couldn’t exactly call Wangho out for sleeping. The words were barely registering in his head and by this point, he was looking at the book rather than reading it.

After couple more attempts, he put his book down with finality, giving up with a sigh. He rested his chin on his hand, resigning himself to just soaking in the sunlight and watch it bounce off of his jungler. He pressed his eyes shut, leaning against the window, feeling warm and at peace. He wasn’t aware of the time passing until he noticed that the sun was getting stronger and it was nearly 12 when he checked his phone.

‘Probably should wake him up and head back,’ he thought, draining the last of his drink. He cleared his throat but Wangho made no indication that he was awake. He gently tapped the top of his head but to no avail.  He ruffled his hair, knowing from experience that Wangho disliked it when he did so. Wangho’s eyes fluttered when his bangs poked at his eyelids and his hands reached up without his consent to try and brush away the rogue strand of hair. It stubbornly fell back to place and he gave up after the third try with an annoyed huff at the disobedient hair. He stifled a laugh when he heard a noise of complaint escape from the sleeping figure. He rested his chin on the table, forgetting what he initially set out to do and watched Wangho furrow his eyebrows. He wanted to smooth it out and before he knew it, he was inched close enough that he could feel Wangho’s thin hair tickle his forehead. It was only when his chest was pressed hard against the edge of the table that he realized just how loud his heart was pumping away and it brought him out of his daze. He quickly pulled away and held his breath when Wangho shifted, blinked a couple of times before stretching his back in an arch.

“What time is it?” Wangho asked amidst yawning, barely opening an inquiring eye at him.

“It’s past noon,” he coughed out, fiddling with his book, almost ashamed to look at Wangho in the eyes.  

“Let’s head back, I’m getting hungry,” the 20 year old urged, standing up and tugging at his arm.

When he didn’t follow suit, Wangho turned around and gave him a bemused look with a slight tilt of his head (he swears there was literal light coming off of him) and all he could think was oh fuck, was he in love.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo, long time no see. My bad T^T AND TOO much goddamn feels. Huni and Peanut leaving and PEANUT JOING LZ (MY HEART FEELS SO BETRAYED, SO SO BETRAYED BUT I STILL LOVE THE LITTLE SUNSHINE) AND POOHMANDU AND BENGI RETURNS. Bengi was my original bias (if you couldn’t tell already, lolol) Tooooo much feelings. 
> 
> I apologize for the lack of Fakenut in this chapter, but I had to progress the plot T^T

When the two of them made their way back to the apartment, they were greeted with the news of their old-time jungler coming to visit for a week. It was only then that it occurred to Sanghyeok that he should give Seongung a call. Although ridiculous to think so, he had a nagging feeling that Seongung knew something like this would happen.

In the meanwhile, he had plenty of times to wrap his head around his ‘enlightenment’ over his not-so-platonic feelings for Wangho. He didn’t know when it started nor did he know when the feelings towards his old jungler disappeared. But he was starting to doubt he ever had them because he couldn’t even begin to compare what he felt for Wangho and what he felt for Seoungung because they were just so _different._ With Bengi, it had felt almost forced, as if the situation back in Season 3 and 4 had made him to latch onto the older gamer. Because let’s face it, he was the epitome of social awkwardness back then and he had looked towards him for everything. He wouldn’t put it past his 18-year-old self to confuse the feeling with anything more than platonic.

With Wangho, it was just easier. He had caught himself smiling more often than he could count just watching the jungler to the point where he wondered whether it was normal. He felt the inevitable spikes of jealousy whenever he saw him laughing with someone he doesn’t know. But most of all, just being next to him was like his daily dose of unwinding. Whatever stress or irritation he accumulated over the day, he would automatically seek out Wangho and seeing him smile at him, no matter how small or fleeting, was all he needed. He began having the prickling sensation of wanting just a bit more than the smile (he wanted everything). He was a greedy person, he knew, so he was frankly proud at himself for refraining himself from demanding more.

So the Spring split rolled on by with the older SKT members counting down the days Bengi was coming to visit. It was after a match and waiting for Jaewan to finish his interview that he decided to call Bengi. He had excused himself to a remote corner of the building and the familiar voice picked up after a few rings.

“Hello?”

“Hyung,” he greeted, “I heard you were coming to visit.”

“News travels fast,” Seongung remarked amusedly. “But yeah, in just…3 days.”

“Jaewan and Junsik’s pretty excited. Think they are devising a plan to keep you trapped in the gaming house so you miss your flight back to China,” Sanghyeok said, shaking his head as he recalled the conversation his friends had. He heard the soft laughter travel across the phone

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Seongung answered, laughter evident in his voice. “What have you been up to anyways.”

“I…,” Sanghyeok hesitated, not sure how to phrase anything he wanted to tell him. “...Things happened, I suppose. I have a lot to tell you once you come.”

“Really?” Seongung sounded cautiously curious.

“They are all good news, I swear,” Sanghyeok reassured him, smirking at the jungler’s tone.

“Oh, good, good. I assume you did your share of thinking,” Seongung said with a smile.

“I suppose.”

“See, this is why you should always listen to your hyungs. You younger generations are too cocky,” Seongung clucked jokingly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sanghyeok agreed half-heartedly to which Seongung broke out laughing.

“Okay well, I’ll be looking forward to it. I’ll see you soon enough.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then” Sanghyeok replied and ended the call, feeling accomplished for the night.

“Hyung!”

Sanghyeok whipped around in surprise and saw Wangho calling him from around the corner.

“Jaewan-hyung finished his interview. We’re all ready to go,” Wangho informed him, motioning towards the direction of their waiting room. Sanghyeok nodded and started towards him. “Who was that?”

“Seongung-hyung,” he answered. Wangho hummed, nodding slowly. They walked back in silence with Wangho walking slightly ahead of him. His eyes strayed to his nape, looking pale and delicate like everything about him. Wangho’s hair had grown out a little and it was tickling the back of his neck and he reached forward without really processing what he was doing. It was when Wangho flinched in surprise at his fingers brushing the tip of his hair that he quickly retracted his hand.

“What is it?” Wangho asked, rubbing at the back of his neck and looking back at him skeptically.

“You need a haircut,” Sanghyeok lied, heart beating just a tad faster and walked faster ahead of Wangho, all the while reminding himself to get his shit together.

 

§§§

 

When he saw Bengi coming towards them with kkOma, he didn’t know what he expected to feel. But he felt the same kind of warm affection he felt when he saw his little brother for breaks after long weeks or even months of absence. The old SKT jungler had Sungu and Junsik hanging off of him the moment he came into sight and he was just content looking at the scene that was so commonplace just half a year ago. He caught his eyes a moment later and smiled back at the familiar dimpled smile.

The dinner was rowdy, everybody busy catching up and he quietly excused himself to get a breather from the 2 hours of sitting. It was still chilly at night and he shoved his hands into his pocket, rocking back and forth on his heels just outside the restaurant.

“Too loud for you?” a familiar voice sounded just beside him and it was none other than Seongung. “Aren’t you used to it by now?”

“Just needed to stretch my legs,” he replied, smiling at his last comment. Seongung was always one of the quieter members of SKT ever since 2013.

“Hmm, this is just my guess but,” Seongung started, glancing at him, “that thing you said about having a lot to tell me. Any chance it’s got anything to do with a certain, cute little jungler?”

Sanghyeok spun around, staring at Seongung incredulously, face heating up just a bit at his uncanny accuracy. The elder didn’t miss his blush and he guffawed, doubling over.

“How did you know?!” he demanded, watching as the jungler struggled to catch his breath.

“Are you kidding, it’s hard _not_ to know. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him and you were smiling like a goof the whole time.”

Sanghyeok spluttered and Seongung finally took pity, shooting him an apologetic glance.

“Ahh, it just might be that I knew you for longer,” he coughed out, calming himself down. “But in all seriousness, Wangho, is it?”

Before Sanghyeok can answer they were interrupted by Junsik and Jaewan crashing into them, throwing their arms over their shoulders.

“What about Wangho?” Junsik asked, having caught the tail end of the old duo’s conversation.  Sanghyeok quickly looked away while Seongung was so obviously trying to hide his laughter. Junsik frowned at their reactions, more curious than ever. “Hey, come on, what about Wangho?”

“Is this about how Sanghyeok has a thing for him?” Jaewan threw out casually, looking back and forth between them.

“Oh,” Junsik said, looking rather let down, “Oh, that’s all it was?”

Sanghyeok gaped at them, speechless, because did _everybody_ know?! Junsik and Jaewan took one look at his face before chortling and Seongung finally broke out laughing, his face red from the effort of holding in it.  

“Come on, nobody could have missed the way you-.”

“Ok, ok, Seongung-hyung already covered that,” Sanghyeok stopped him, not wanting to go through the same embarrassment again. He buried his eyes into his hand, shaking his head, while his so called friends practically convulsed with laughter. “Am I that obvious?”

“Nah, don’t worry, nobody else has a clue, probably including Wangho,” Junsik patted him on the back, probably meant to be comforting but not at all so with that big shit-eating grin on his face. It was just when he pushed Junsik’s face away from him, annoyed at the grin, that kKoma and the rest of SKT stepped out.

“What’s going on?” kKoma asked, watching Junsik bat away Sanghyeok’s arm, still cackling.

“Nothing,” Sanghyeok said, perhaps too quickly, “It’s nothing.”

kkOma gave them one more suspicious look before turning away. Their whole walk back to the gaming house was spent with Sanghyeok pushing in his elbow into Jaewan and Junsik whenever they started snickering besides him and Seongung doing all he can not to laugh.

 

§§§

 

After the reunion dinner, Seongung had driven to his family’s place, promising to return in 4 days to stay over before his flight the next day. Sanghyeok barely had the luxury to register that apparently half his team knew about his feelings for Wangho once they started to grind through their scrims and solo-que following Seongung’s visit.

It was in middle of the night, after they have turned off their streams, that he once again found himself alone in the gaming house; the rest had gone off the eat. But it wasn’t long before he heard the door open and he turned around to see Wangho walking in, a drink held in his mouth as he took off his coat.

“Still in solo-que?” he asked, slumping down into the chair next to him, turning on the computer.

“Yeah,” he replied, “What did you guys eat?”

“Just the usual,” Wangho shrugged, leaning in to watching his game while waiting his screen to boot. He would have usually simply enjoyed the proximity but yesterday’s encounter got him feeling nervous and his heartbeat sped up despite himself. He coughed, inching away but Wangho just leaned in closer, caught up in watching his game and frowning because he wasn’t wearing his glasses or contacts. He had the time to find the crease in between his eyebrows cute before he moved away just a bit further which he instantly regretted because Wangho just rested his elbow on his chair’s arm rest, his hair tickling at his chin. He almost sighed out in frustration before Wangho’s elbow slipped and he yelped out at the drink being spilt on his lap.

“Oh, crap!” Wangho shouted, shooting up from his chair. “Ah, hyung, I’m sorry.”

Before Sanghyeok could wave it off, he froze when the jungler made a motion to wipe it off. He dabbed at the stain with his sleeve pulled over his hand and it was way too close for his comfort right now. It didn’t help one bit that when he looked up, he couldn’t see anything but Wangho’s thin lips that made him swallow nervously.

“I’ll get some tissues or something,” Wangho said, shaking his head before straightening up and snickering at the situation as he walked away.

Sanghyeok finally let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding and banged his head against the desk, cursing himself and situation. He quickly hurried to the bathroom to clean himself up before Wangho got back and thought to himself that he _really_ needs to get his shit together.

 

§§§

 

After the incident, he was extra careful around Wangho, lest something similar happens. Bengi was back soon enough and it was decided that he was going to stay the night on the couch of their apartment. He was sitting back while Seongung was engaged in a conversation with Sungu, listening in on their conversation vacantly while on his phone. He was surprised when Seongung tapped at his shoulder, nodding towards the door. He stood up, getting the hint that he wanted to talk to him alone. They both shuddered when they stepped out of the building, wrapping themselves closer to their jackets.

“So, I guess ‘a lot’ was kind of reduced thanks to Junsik and Jaewan,” Seongung smiled.

“Yeah, you don’t say,” he agreed, shaking his head as he remembered the bot-duo having too much fun at his own expense.

“I’m glad you figure things out,” Seongung said, shuffling his shoes on the ground. Neither were quite comfortable or apt at this kind of conversation and Sanghyeok coughed at the awkwardness of it all.

“Yeah…thanks,” he managed to say, feeling a wave of gratitude and guilt towards the old jungler. “And I’m sorry. For getting you involved in my own mess.”

“Hahah! I didn’t think I would ever hear those words from you,” Seongung chuckled. “I think Wangho is good for you.”

Sanghyeok silently agreed, nodding along.

“Well, I think I feel a lot better about leaving LCK than before.”

“I’m not helpless, you know,” Sanghyeok complained, always having felt like a kid next to the older members of SKT.

“Outside of League, you kind of are,” Seongung gave him a pointed look to which he couldn’t really deny. “Well now that’s out of the way, come on,” Seongung smirked sheepishly, waving him closer for a hug. Sanghyeok was surprised at how much he had to lean down as he let his chin rest on Seongung’s shoulder.

“Um.”

“What is it?” Sanghyeok asked, frowning at Seongung’s uncertain tone. He saw his eyes focused on something behind him and he whipped around, looking for whatever caught his attention but it was too dark to catch anything.

“Nothing, nothing,” the jungler waved him off, scratching the back of his head. “So what are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“About Wangho.”

“…”

“You have no idea, do you,” Seongung looked at him almost pitifully, shaking his head. Sanghyeok looked away abashedly. He hadn’t thought about it one bit. He wasn’t exactly experienced in such things and the way he had approached Seongung years ago was clearly not the way to go.

“I’d give you some advice except I don’t have any,” the jungler snickered, patting his shoulders but clearly amused. Sanghyeok let out an audible sigh as they headed back into the building, his head impossibly full of Wangho as if it wasn’t before.

 

§§§

 

He didn’t see Wangho return to the gaming house the same day and when he didn’t see the jungler the next morning, he caught himself constantly looking at the door. He barely noticed that Junsik and Jaewan wasn’t present either when they started helping Seongung down the apartment with his luggage.

“What’s got you so distracted,” Seongung asked, grunting as he heaved his trunk into the cab, thanking Sungu as he helped him. Sanghyeok shrugged, not wanting to admit how much Wangho’s short absence bothered him. But by the way Seongung gave him a side way glance as he bid farewell to Sungu, he probably knew anyways.

“You are pretty head over heels, aren’t you,” Bengi noted amusedly, waving the rest of SKT off.

“Shut up,” Sanghyeok muttered, not meeting the elder’s eyes. He huffed in annoyance when he started chuckling and pointedly looked away.

“I’m sure Wangho’s fine. I’m going to wait for Junsik and Jaewan but you go ahead. I don’t want coach blaming me for your lack of practice,” Seongung waved him off, his dimpled smile in place.

“…I’ll see you in few months again, I suppose,” Sanghyeok mused, smiling back.

“Of course. In the meanwhile, don’t bother Wangho too much, okay?” Seongung guffawed, earning himself a groan from Sanghyeok. He rolled his eyes but nonetheless felt a tinge of disappointment at seeing the old jungler leave. He pushed down the feeling, comforting himself with the fact that he’ll see him again in matter of months.

The bot-duo came into the practice room not too late with Wangho in tow. He tried to not look so curious and kept his gaze on his computer screen. Wangho draped his jacket over the chair next to him but sauntered off to somewhere instead of sitting down. As soon as he was out of earshot, Junsik settled himself in his chair and Sanghyeok glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” he asked.

“We told Wangho about you and Seongung-hyung.”

“You did what?” he hissed, staring at the ADC incredulously. Junsik only gave him a shrug.

“He’d have misunderstood if we didn’t.”

“Who’s we?”

“Me and Jaewan, who else?”

“But why?”

“Like I said, he’d have misunderstood. And he asked. Sort of,” Junsik trailed off.

“Sort of?!” Sanghyeok asked dubiously.

“Ok well, he noticed things between you and Seongung-hyung so we cleared it up for him. Because you clearly wouldn’t have done a bang up job of explaining yourself,” Junsik explained, motioning him to calm down and although Sanghyeok wanted to be pissed, he really couldn’t.  

“What, no thank you?” Junsik asked in the tone that Sanghyeok knew he always used to mess with him. Sanghyeok ignored him and Junsik snickered into his hand. “Okay, I’m sorry. But you know, you should be glad.”

“For what, exactly.”

“He didn’t think much about you liking a guy. Just that it was Seongung-hyung.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Sanghyeok turned around, fully forgetting that he was supposed to be ignoring his poor excuse of a friend. Junsik shrugged furtively and dodged out of the way when Sanghyeok tried grab at him, a smug smile plastered on his face.

“You-” Sanghyeok stopped abruptly when Wangho walked back into the space and he settled for throwing the ADC a glare before turning back to his computer.

“What was that about?” Wangho asked, looking at him curiously as he sat down.

“Nothing,” he answered, avoiding the inquiring gaze.

“Hmm, fine, fine,” Wangho said, his voice light as he turned to his computer.

“You’re in a good mood today,” Sanghyeok remarked, looking on amused as Wangho turned on his music and started humming along.

“Yeah,” Wangho admitted, “Hyung, hyung, let’s go eat lunch together later.”

“Sure,” he agreed, trying his hardest not to sound too pleased. The bright smile that Wangho threw him in response caught him off guard in the best way possible and he doesn’t think he’s looked forward to lunch this much in a while.

 

§§§

 

“Who’s turn is it?” Jaewan asked aloud, looking around the waiting room where everybody was lounging around, hours before their match. It’s become almost customary for one or two of the SKT members to fetch Starbucks drinks for everybody to last them the long waiting hours every match day.

“I went last time,” Seunghoon raised his arm.

“And I went with him,” Profit added on as well, not looking up from his phone.

“It’s Sanghyeokyi-hyung’s turn,” Sungu quipped in, grinning when the midlaner groaned, looking up from his book.

“Rock paper scissors?” Sanghyeok looked around the room hopefully.

“No way, no way,” Junsik clucked, waving his index finger at him, “Go fetch our drink, you servant.”

Sanghyeok didn’t bother asking for reprieve and made his way out the waiting room, Seunghoon’s loud ‘thank you’ following him.

“Where are you going?”

He looked up in surprise to find Wangho on his way towards the waiting room, frowning up at him.

“Starbucks duty,” he replied, still sullen.

“Ah, it’s your turn today,” Wangho remarked, grinning delightedly, “Get me the usual.”

Sanghyeok, not the one to let go of an opportunity when he sees it, instantly grabbed Wangho’s arm, turning him around and threw his arm over his shoulder.

“You’re coming with me,” he said firmly, the corner of his lips twitching when Wangho grumbled.

“Whyyy,” the jungler whined but still made no move to wiggle out of his grip.

“Keep me company,” he shrugged, enjoying the casual closeness as they headed towards the nearby café. The cashier desk was empty and they contemplated the menu board, waiting for a barista to show up.

“What does Sungu usually get again?” Sanghyeok asked, turning his head towards Wangho. And by the most pleasant coincidence, Wangho turned his head the same time and their face was impossibly close, both of them freezing at the unexpected proximity. Sanghyeok could see the faint freckles scattered across his cheekbones that he rarely got to see and for one deranged moment, he thought how easy it would be to lean in just a bit closer and close the gap between them. It would be so, so sweet and his hair would feel soft in his hands-

“Hello, welcome to Starbucks, what would you like to order?”

The two of them jumped at the sudden introduction, looking away immediately. He coughed, finally letting go of Wangho shoulders and moving closer to the cashier.

“I’m, I’m just going to go wait over there,” Wangho mumbled and he nodded, not daring to look at him again. He rattled out the order, paid with his card and searched for the jungler. He found him perched on a barstool chair, half of his face buried in his arms and the tug of longing he felt was intense enough to dry his throat and make his palms sweat.

“I’m really in deep,” he muttered to himself before approaching him, wondering how long he could keep this up before he does something stupid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finals coming up but it’s breaks afterwards so I will be posting a lot more (in a month...but you know...please forgive me) For those of you who are still in school, whether it be high school or university, GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EXAMS!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy enjoy~ NOTE NOTE NOTE: the part where I start with the asterick (*) is taken from an actual interview that Peanut did right after their win against Samsung?? (I’m actually not sure T^T). I put a rough transcription/translation below: 
> 
> Question: Today’s match was really amazing. I’m curious about what you have to say about the 3:0 victory.
> 
> Peanut: Yesterday, before Sanghyeok-yi hyung went to sleep-, hyung and I live in the same gaming house, (A/N: as far as I know, the SKT players share two apartments between themselves) we went back together after practice. So just before going to sleep, Sanghyeok-yi hyung said “I.will.carry.the.game (tomorrow)”, he said those 5 words and walked off. So I was thinking “What’s up with that?” but today, he did really well so I’m very thankful for it.

Sanghyeok was pretty sure there was a saying that good things happen when you least expect them to and he was willing to personally vouch for whoever said those words.

Spring split came to an end faster than he could process it. The night they won against MVP, they secured their place in the finals and a better half of the team was up for some celebration. Knowing that if he went, the others (meaning Junsik and Seunghoon) will drink buckets relying on him to drag their asses back home, he refused and stayed back at the gaming house. He fired up the computer, ready to wind down with a bout of solo-que. It must have been past midnight when he heard a clutter of noise mixed with muted voices nearing the practice room. He craned his neck just in time for him to see Junsik practically hauling Wangho through the door. Junsik only gave him a look before he was out the door in a blur. He frowned, unsure what kind of situation he was just put in and whirled around to face Wangho. He looked mostly sober if not a bit ruffled and he couldn’t smell much alcohol on him.

“Had a fun night out?” he asked, pulling his feet up on to the chair, watching as the jungler made his way towards him.

“Mhmm~. You should have joined us,” he replied, nodding zealously.

“You know I don’t drink.”

“Such a bore, Sanghyeokyi-hyung~,” Wangho whined.

“I should have,” he teased, “I’ve heard so many interesting things the last time you got drunk, could’ve heard a lot more tonight if I went.”

“Uuugh, don’t bring that up,” Wangho groaned and he grinned because embarrassing Wangho was one of his favorite things in the world.

“I haven’t got your sign yet you know,” Wangho added, looking at him accusingly and Sanghyeok, the idiot he was for him, found it endearing.

“What’s up with that,” he broke out laughing, feeling a twinge of regret that maybe he should have gone with him to celebrate. Wangho suddenly went eerily quiet and still and he stopped, concerned at the abrupt silence. He was about to ask if he was alright when the three words that he never expected to hear was blurted out of Wangho’s mouth.

“I like you.”

“What?” he asked, sure that he heard wrong.

“I said, I like you, hyung.”

Time seemed to slow down and he could hear nothing but his own heartbeat. For someone who was praised for being able to process multitude of things simultaneously in–game, his brain was laughably slow at processing the words. He opened his mouth but no sound out because there were no words to describe what he was feeling.

“I-, f-forget that, alright, forget I said anything, I’m sorry.”

He was shaken out of his stupor by Wangho’s mumbling but it was too late and Wangho had already ran out of the practice room like his life depended on it. He cursed under his breath before he sprinted out after him, not realizing or caring that he was barefoot. He sped up when he saw the jungler outside the building and he grabbed his wrist, turning him around to face him. He had to confirm, he had to hear it again because god-forbid his ears were playing tricks on him.

“What are you doing, you’re bare fe-.”

“What did you say,” he cut him off, impatient for his answer.

“Nothing, I didn’t say anything,” Wangho looked away, struggling to get out of his grip.

“I said, what did you say,” he repeated, silently begging Wangho to say them again.  

“Nothing! Forget it! I’m drunk, you don’t-”

“Wait, you’re drunk?” he nearly shouted, his heart crashing back down to earth from cloud nine. Wangho nodded timidly and he couldn’t stop the heavy sigh from leaving him, feeling incredibly stupid for getting ahead of himself. He had half the mind to shake Wangho until he repeated the words but one look at Wangho’s flushed face had him resolve that if he waited the last few months, then he can wait one more night. “Don’t go anywhere and wait here.”

He trudged back to the practice room, his feet stinging from the rough concrete ground. He shut down his PC, grabbed his phone and shoved on his shoes before walking back out. Wangho was waiting at the exact spot with his head down and he felt a pang of guilt at his own harshness. He swallowed it down and silently made his way towards their apartment, telling himself to be patient because he wanted to do everything right with Wangho.

 

§§§

 

He had barely slept that night and he spent the majority of it blinking up at the ceiling. Came morning, he snuck out of his bedroom with a book and saw the sunlight already creeping in through the windows. He closed the curtains and took the so-called hangover cure out onto the kitchen island with a bottled water, very practiced with dealing with other’s hangovers by this point, much thanks to his bot-duo. He had only gone through couple of pages in his book when Wangho ambled out of his room, looking out of sorts.

“The pill’s on the table,” he informed him, covering his mouth with his book that was twitching at the sight of Wangho’s comically shamed expression.

“…Thanks.”

He waited silently, watching as relief spread over the jungler’s face in matter of minutes.

“Already working?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

It took all his will to keep his mouth shut the next few minutes but his mouth was itching and he asked, once again:

“What did you say yesterday.”

“N-nothing,” came Wangho’s stuttered reply.

“What did you say?” he repeated, the nerve-wrecked look on Wangho’s face giving away more than his words.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Is it that hard to say it again?” he pushed, because he _knew_ it was at the tip of his tongue and he just had to hear it one more time.

“Of course it’s hard!” Wangho cried, finally looking up from the floor, “Do you know how miserable it makes me having to admit, nonetheless tell you that I like-,”

“That what?” he urged, his heart thumping away in his rib cage.

“…That I like you.”  

And his heart surely surpassed its limits just then because it was threatening to escape from his chest. To this date, he doesn’t know if anybody was in the living room with them because all he could see and hear was Wangho.

“I like you,” he said, feeling as if a ton of weight has been taken off his chest at finally being able to say those words aloud and damn it if the look on Wangho’s face wasn’t the most rewarding thing.

“What?”

“I said, I like you too, Wangho-ya,” he repeated and the silence that followed was the weirdest mix of awkwardness and elation he has ever felt. His heart still feeling too big for his chest, he cleared his throat and carefully examined Wangho’s face. He was barely able to stop himself from laughing because the confused expression on the jungler’s face was too delightful and he stood up, walking closer. He could hear his blood pumping in his ears and when he wrapped his hand around the thin wrist, he wasn’t sure if the rapid heartbeat he felt through the tip of his fingers were his or Wangho’s.

“Do you need me to say it again?” he asked, searching his face.

“Wha-, no, I don’t -,” Wangho stammered, shaking his head vigorously and it just made him want to tease him more.  

“I like you.”

“I said you don’t need t-.”

“I like you.”

“Okay! Okay, I get it, just stop-.”

“I like you,” he said, not able to keep the smile off of his face this time. His heart felt like bursting with overwhelming affection when the jungler brought his arm up to cover his face which was doing a poor job at covering the blush that was spreading to the tip of his ears.

“Hey, look at me,” he urged, tugging at the arm, not wanting to miss anything that Wangho had to show anymore.

“…I can’t.”

“What do you mean you ‘can’t?”

“How can I after you’ve said all… that,” Wangho mumbled out, still evading his eyes.

“Is this going to happen every time I tell you that I like you in the future?” he asked, his smile stubbornly staying in place and he pulled the jungler closer, close enough to feel his breath but still far enough to look at every details of his face.

“Hey, tell me again.”

“…I like you,” Wangho muttered and Sanghyeok closed his eyes, soaking in the words and feeling weightless.

 

§§§

 

He was never a romantic and he didn’t need to have dated anybody to know that. It’s been a few days since the confessions been made and as far as he knew it was just Smeb who knew about their circumstances. He couldn’t say anything for Junsik and Jaewan but he wasn’t about to tell them; he assumed they would figure it out for themselves sooner or later.

As for him, he was finding out that he had things that he liked besides League. And coincidentally it all centered around Wangho.  He liked eating together with him, he liked those quiet moments they had when it was just the two of them doing their own thing, but most of all, he liked the furious blush that Wangho had whenever he did or say anything remotely affectionate. Which is why he didn’t expect the tables to be turned on him quite so soon.

SKT members were getting up one by one and making their way to the gaming house, most of them still half-asleep. It has become a silent routine for him to wait for Wangho if he hadn’t already left which was a rare occurrence. Sungu and Haneul nodded at him as they walked out, murmuring something about Junsik and Jaewan being slow. He flicked through pages of social media on his phone before the bottom duo sauntered out of their rooms, yawning as they struggled to put on their jackets.

“Wangho~, let’s go,” Jaewan called out as they put on their shoes and Sanghyeok stood up from his place on the couch. Wangho muttered a series of apologies as he hurried out of the bathroom with his hair still wet, shoving his phone and wallet into his pockets while the bot duo already made their way out the front door. He blinked in surprise when he saw Sanghyeok standing in the living room.

“You didn’t leave yet?” he asked, stopping in front of him.

“I was waiting for you.”

“Why?”

“I like walking with you,” he shrugged in reply, turning to put on his shoes. He pushed the front door but when he didn’t hear anything, he turned back in curiosity. He didn’t expect the familiar hand grabbing his wrist and he stumbled backwards at the unexpected pull. Before he could say anything, he only managed to catch Wangho’s eyes clenched shut before the soft lips brushed against his cheeks in a chaste kiss. He blinked rapidly, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. He barely saw Wangho’s sheepish smile and the telltale blush at the tip of his ears before he rushed out.

 “Wha-, Wangho, where are you going?” Junsik shouted out, frowning at where Wangho had sprinted down the staircase.

“Outside!” came the echoing reply.

“By stairs?!”

“It’s exercise!”

The SKT bot duo exchanged dumbfounded looks before they piled into the elevator, shaking their heads at the odd behavior. Sanghyeok faintly heard Jaewan wondering out loud whether the jungler knew that they lived on the 11th floor but everything else was drowned out by the bubbling sensation inside him. His cheek still felt pleasantly warm and despite his efforts, he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face. He had to cover his mouth to keep himself from looking like a nutcase and his cheeks began to protest at the grin that refused to leave but he felt like bursting with elation.  

He swears he was never a romantic but it seems fairly questionable now.

 

§§§

 

He had learned through the hard way the past 3 years that Junsik had unbelievably sharp eyes. He was partially thankful because that was what made him a good ADC but by this point, he was starting to think that it was pointless keeping any secrets from him. In retrospect, he figured he shouldn’t have been so surprised when Junsik and Jaewan knew about him and Wangho before it even progressed into a relationship.

He had his fun keeping the two in the dark but was annoyed to find that they figured it out long before he told them anything and made a bet to boot. The smug expression that Junsik had on the whole afternoon after winning his bet probably vexed him more than it did Jaewan. And apparently it showed because the ADC shot him a pleased beam and cackled in a way that he could only describe as evil. He returned an unimpressed look and Junsik made a motion of surrender.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop,” he placated, trying to school his looks into a neutral one but failing. He shook his head and continued towards the gaming house. “Hey, at least I bought us lunch with it.”

Sanghyeok shrugged, admitting that getting a free lunch out of the whole ordeal wasn’t half bad. “I suppose.”

“Good for you, by the way,” Junsik continued in a very off-handed tone while giving him a sideway glance. “You look happier than I’ve ever seen you.”

He looked at his friend, surprised at the sentiment before nodding slowly.

“Yeah, I am,” he replied under his breath, not knowing if Junsik heard him or not.

“Don’t screw it up, yeah?” Junsik lightly punched his arm, a slight smirk pulling at his face. Sanghyeok snorted, looking away.

“You just work on your own relationship.”

“What relationship,” Junsik retorted sourly. “I’ll turn into a wizard at this rate.”

“You’ll have Jaewan right beside you as you do.”

“That wasn’t meant to be comforting, was it?” Junsik stared at him dubiously as they pushed the door open into their practice room. Sanghyeok shrugged and grinned as he turned away when Junsik silently shook his head before settling down in his chair. Wangho turned when he heard the two of them come in, looking curiously back and forth.

“Junsik is just worried he’s going to die single,” Sanghyeok informed him, nodding towards the ADC who flipped him off. Wangho gave his trademark laugh and turned towards Junsik, grinning mischievously.

“Hyung, it’s ok, Jaewan-hyung is going to be there for you.”

Sanghyeok guffawed when Junsik looked back incredulously at the repeated words.

“Hmm?” Jaewan took his headset off, looking around the room when he heard his name being called. “I already have a girlfriend.”

“What?!” Junsik exclaimed, sharply turning towards his support, looking and sounding thoroughly betrayed. Jaewan nodded to confirm and the ADC groaned as he sank down on his chair and sullenly turned on his monitor.

“That’s fine. You all just leave me behind. I’ll be fine by myself. I can be single and happy.”

“I’m trying not to judge, but I’m judging,” Seunghoon shook his head sadly from his chair and they all head to stifle their laughter as kkOma walked in, ready to start the days’ worth of practice.

 

§§§

 

He had learned over the last couple of weeks that Wangho had a heart-shaped smile. He had vaguely noticed over one day, but once he had, it wasn’t something he could let go off and he had caught himself taking note of it every time he smiled. It was the most prominent when his lips were pulled back slightly in a soft but open mouthed smile. He didn’t know if Wangho knew but he felt a near grudge at how easily he flaunted the irresistible smile (in his opinion) that he was tempted to keep to himself.

It was just a few days before the Spring season was all but done with the exception of the finals. Despite having no matches, their tradition of one unlucky members delivering Starbucks still held during scrims and it was Wangho’s turn. He had slipped out of the practice room after him. Wangho hadn’t heard or noticed him even as he walked closer. He suppressed a grin when he overheard a long suffering sigh.

He suddenly felt overcome by impulse which didn’t happen often for him but he found it harder and harder to stick by his self-restraining ways with Wangho. He wrapped his arm around the jungler, and pulled him back close. He felt a noise of surprise escape him but he only pressed him closer, still feeling the wonder at how easily the small body fit into his.

“Hyung~,” Wangho complained, but his voice was free of any real annoyance and Sanghyeok smiled against the back of his shoulder. He held the waist that always felt so fragile with both his arm and daringly pressed his lips against the side of his neck. Through the corner of his eyes, he saw his cheeks begin to redden and it pushed him to nip at the pale skin. A splutter of indignation left Wangho and he chuckled, pulling away only slightly. Although there was nobody around, they rarely if ever took a chance at anybody seeing them together in such ways. He unwound one of his arms and taking advantage of the loosened hold, Wangho spun around to face him. He stared at him through narrowed eyes and Sanghyeok returned the stare cautiously; Wangho always wore that look whenever he was about to do something unpredictable. The jungler stood up on his tip toes and pressed a sure and hard kiss on his lips before jumping away from his reach.

Sanghyeok was rooted in his spot, startled by the bold action that he didn’t expect. And when he didn’t follow Wangho who was essentially skipping away, the jungler looked back, tilting his head back. He gave him a cheeky grin with those heart shaped lips which was beginning to be a source of his troubles and he felt his heart skip for the thousandth time. He knew that the time they have been together was infinitesimal compared to the times they haven’t. It still didn’t stop him from musing at how dull and insignificant the time before Wangho felt.

 

§§§

 

Sooner than he had expected, the Spring finals were just a day away. Kkoma had ended the day with a short meeting, rounding them up and reassuring them they can win. He had stayed behind the practice room after all of the members had made their way back to their apartment. He spent hours scrolling through his games and watching past scrims and matches. He glanced at the time; it was half past 10 and their coaching staff had warned them to sleep before 11. He sighed as he turned off his monitor but didn’t make a move to leave. He was feeling wide awake and he doubted that he could fall asleep soon if he lied in his bed. Engrossed in his thoughts, he didn’t hear the door open and jumped when a hand tapped his shoulder.

“Wangho?” he voiced his surprise, craning his head back.

"Hey, you didn’t come back so I just came to check,” Wangho greeted, searching his face. “Worried about tomorrow?”

"No,” he shrugged.

"Liar~,” the jungler called him out, poking his forehead. He smiled ruefully before taking his hand and leaning back on his chair with a sigh. He felt the smaller hand give a comforting squeeze before tugging at his hand gently. “We’ll be fine. Come on, let’s head back now.”

Sanghyeok let himself be led out of the practice room and he felt his mood lighten as they slowly walked back to their apartment. The spring night, while still a bit chilly, was pleasant with a light breeze and Wangho’s occasional chattering had him grinning by the time they reached their house.  

They stopped for a moment just outside Wangho’s room.

*“I will carry tomorrow,” he ascertained, nudging his shoulder. Wangho broke out into a grin, turning to face him.

"You better. Don’t you blame my ganking afterwards,” he warned half-heartedly. He pulled the smiling face closer and placed a firm kiss on his lips, appreciating the familiarity of it all.

 

§§§

 

Three minutes before their final game of the spring season ends, he knew his team had won. His mouth and hands itched as the seconds ticked by and they inched closer to their 6th win of LCK. He could hear Seunghoon scream through the headset and Jaewan let out a loud woot. He saw through the corner of his eyes Junsik beginning to grin widely with both relief and triumph but he immediately turned his head towards Wangho the moment the blue “Win” showed up on his screen.

Before, he simply hated to lose. As he watched his boyfriend shake off his headsets and stand up with a shout of elation, he etched into himself another reason he _couldn’t_ lose now.

 

§§§

 

After their team dinner with all of the SKT staff and the member’s families, Haneul and Sungu had gone off with their family. Junsik’s parents had driven the rest of them to their apartment because both of their coaches were too inebriated to drive. The bot-duo traced their way to their own rooms, both too tired to do anything else but yawn out their ‘goodnight’s. Waiting until he heard the doors close, he turned to Wangho in front of his room, waiting for him to enter so he can bid his own goodnight. But the jungler didn’t make any motion to open the door and he frowned, wondering if he wasn’t feeling well from the alcohol. Before he could voice his question, Wangho grabbed the front of his jacket with one hand.

"Stay with me?” he whispered, his eyes fixed onto his feet and Sanghyeok felt his heart speed up at the timid gesture. “I mean-,” Wangho whipped his head up, his eyes wide and a furious blush on his cheeks, “Not to do anything but…I…just-…You know what, never mind.”

"Hey, hey, you can’t take your words back,” Sanghyeok argued at the retreating back, a wide grin on his face. He followed Wangho into his room and closed the door behind him. His boyfriend still refused to look at him and took off his jacket. “Wangho~,” he called, placing a hand on his hip bones and resting his chin on his shoulder.

"What,” Wangho replied flatly, still not looking at him, but the flushed cheeks betrayed him.  

"You still sure about not doing anything?” he asked, slipping a hand under the thin shirt, running a thumb across the smooth skin and watched every details of Wangho’s expression. He looked mortified and he could almost feel the heat coming off of his face. He chuckled and pulled back, having had his share of fun teasing Wangho for the day. “Alright, alright, I won’t do anything.”

Wangho stomped off to the bathroom with a barely concealed ‘humph’ and Sanghyeok suppressed his laughter. He followed after him to his own room, taking off his jacket and changing into his sleeping attire. He quickly put himself under the shower and traced his steps back to Wangho’s room while drying his hair with a towel.

He and Wangho, like everybody else in their team, slept only with lower half of their clothes when the winter passed. But he still felt his mouth dry when he entered and found Wangho with only his shorts. He shut the door behind him, regretting his earlier promise of keeping his distance. He cleared his throat when Wangho yawned, stretching his arms above his head and his back arching in the most tempting way possible. He turned around and saw him standing against the door.

"Turn off the light,” he said before moving towards the bed and sliding beneath the sheets. He did as he was told and slipped into the bed after Wangho after placing his glasses on the desk. They have fallen asleep together on more than one occasion but every time was a bit different. He felt the jungler move further down the bed to give him space and he stopped him by wrapping his arm around the bare torso. He heard a small gasp escape Wangho when he pulled him close enough that his back was pressed tight against his chest. He spread his fingers across the flat abdomen, never tiring of exploring no matter how many times he saw or touched the same body. He leaned down to kiss the pale neck and couldn’t stop smiling when he felt a shiver run through Wangho. He moved his hand lower until his fingers were dangerously close to the waistband. Wangho weakly grabbed at his hand and he took his distraction to suck and bite his nape just hard enough to hurt a little.

"Hey, that’s going to leave a mark,” Wangho murmured, rubbing at the spot.

"That’s the point,” he replied, placing a kiss just below his ear. He traced his lips down all the way down to his bare shoulders and bit playfully at the skin he found there. Wangho let out a soft laugh before wiggling in his grip. He unwound his arm just slightly and Wangho turned to face him.

"Hyung, I thought you weren’t going to do anything,” he said in a lightly accusing tone, poking at his chest.

"Did I?” he asked, feigning innocence as he ran his hand through the dyed hair. Wangho rolled his eyes and he laughed quietly.

"Alright, I _really_ won’t do anything now,” he promised, kissing his forehead. Wangho let out an appreciative hum before burrowing down into his chest.

"Goodnight,” he whispered, tucking his head below his chin. Sanghyeok wrapped his arm around the bony shoulders, tangling their legs together.

"Goodnight.”

 

§§§

 

He woke up the next morning with the sunlight that spilled through the window poking at his eyelids. He pried his eyes open and saw that they were in a similar position as how they fell asleep. He felt the body in his arm stir.

"Mornin’,” Wangho murmured, his eyes still closed. Sanghyeok leaned down and kissed the top of his head before replying in kind. Suppressing his surprise at how _right_ everything felt, he pulled the sheets off of them and sat up. Wangho groaned as he stretched, scrunching his eyes at the sunlight. Smiling at Wangho’s everlasting distaste of morning sunlight, he climbed off the bed and pulled the curtains close. Sighing out in relief, Wangho opened one eye and grinned at him.

"Hyung, since you’re already out of bed, go get us coffee.”

"You mean get _you_ coffee,” he corrected, knowing full well that Wangho knew he didn’t drink coffee.

"Well, if you put it like that~.”

Sanghyeok flicked his forehead and Wangho laughed before untangling himself out of bed.

"Alright, alright, I’ll go with you,” the jungler receded, pulling on a shirt. “Come on, let’s go.”

He shook his head and pulled on a sweater that Wangho handed him. He watched as he walked out, the light in the living room reflecting off of his dyed hair and brightening the already pale skin. He felt a warm glow of affection as Wangho reached towards him, took his hand and pulled him out the room before entwining their fingers.

Just then, he figured that the time he messes anything up between him and Wangho will be the time he makes the biggest mistake of his life.  Watching the brilliant smile that his boyfriend had on his face was all the encouragement he needed to swear to himself that he never will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hewh, more than 4500 words, I think it's the longest chapter in this series lol. 
> 
> Thank you for everybody and anybody who stuck through the two fics and I hope I paid back just a bit with this chapter. You are all very, very, VERY appreciated <3


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